A week of small observations with sons: Living with the wildlife

In which a whale washes ashore and Samuel finds similarities between his sister and a sea otter

The ocean dumped a fin whale on a nearby beach, so after a visit to the zoo, we joined a steady stream of people walking down to the shore to see it. City workers fenced it off as we splashed through the bloody juices that pooled around it. It stank. There was a somber exuberance to the site: Some people brought flowers, dogs wagged and panted, a few stroked the whale’s leather skin, while others joked about ways the city could remove it from the beach. We all hoped there wouldn’t be a repeat of the attempt made with dynamite.

Our favorite animals at the zoo were the large walrus and the six sea otters. For five minutes straight we watched the otters groom themselves. “They’re just like teenage girls,” Sam said.

Author’s note: It’s the school’s spring break, and I’m alone with my three boys. This is a diary of our adventures.